Here's another one of those wonderful solutions to a problem I did not know we had.
Is it convenient? Sure! Is it useful? Yes. Do people with small children or older adults who have problems lifting need it? Need? No. Helpful? Sure. I lean more toward the older adults, because people with small children don't need yet one more thing to duck out of when being around their kids. (Yeah, I said it. bring it. I'm a witch, not a fluffy bunny-land airy fairy.) It's the Magic Tap Automatic Drink Dispenser. Battery operated.
One of their selling points is that kids can help themselves now.When you have kids, you accept certain responsibilities. One of those is pouring the heavy stuff or cleaning up a spill when you let them pour the heavy stuff. Kids don't really need to be helping themselves to things all the time and you don't have to give them a sense of independence by letting them get their own damn drinks. They need supervision at certain ages. And if they are too small to handle a gallon container of something, then they are still at the age of supervision! Why do I care? Because this is more plastic crap that breaks and gets tossed when it doesn't work right and uses batteries which also just get tossed when they are spent... and really it's for nothing. This is not a problem. If it is, maybe you have to think about some things long and hard. This is simply a company trying to make money. They don't care about your home life. They just are trying to make a buck. Yay, America. Of course they are entitled, but it doesn't mean we have to fall for it.
Yes, I can see where it would be handy for people who cannot lift, or have arthritis, but look at this thing. It IS plastic crap. It can break anywhere so easily, or it'll be a pain to clean out when necessary so into the drawer it goes, then into garbage... and of course they are SO nice and cheap that if it breaks, just buy another, no problem! It's just part of a bigger picture. Solutions to problems we don't really have, and things we have dealt with more or less in an OK manner for years.
If the bottles are too big for little kids, handle it for them. If you don't have time, don't have kids. (Again... "witch." Sorry. It's long been my philosophy that if one doesn't have the time needed for kids or finds life too inconvenient with kids... don't have kids.) If the bottles are too heavy for some people, buy smaller amounts, or have someone (if you can) split them into smaller containers that are easier to manage. (Yes, I have more sympathy there, arthritis runs in my family and I realize certain things become difficult.) But please let's stop with the As Seen on TV crap that addresses made-up issues. We aren't helpless. Our predecessors got along without these stupid things, and just because we think of them doesn't make it "Progress." One of their claims: "If you're tired of lifting large containers, do yourself a favor and buy these." Notice a marked increase in obesity out there in the world? How about we DO lift heavy stuff for a change?
Think.
And actually, if your kid is standing there with the fridge door hanging open in the hot Summer while waiting to fill up a glass of plastic-encased high-fructose corn syrupy crap, you got more than just the one problem. Just sayin'.
Symptom of a bigger thing. Yeah, I picked on the Magic Tap, but really it's all these damn things out there. These stupid products sell millions and then end up where? You guessed it. Ever Ever Land. Part of which is right smack in the middle of all of our oceans.
